Fireside Jigsaw opens with eight pictures laid out as thumbnails and four sizes beneath them: 12, 24, 48 or 96 pieces. The first four pictures come straight from the line, the gondola over the lake, red cabins climbing in the last light, the summit lodge hearth and the hanging glacier tarn. The other four borrow views from far-off hills and fjords that our artists could not resist.
Choose one and the picture is cut into proper jigsaw pieces with rounded tabs and blanks, each with a slight bevel and shadow so it feels like card fresh from a box. The pieces scatter around the board. Drag one near its true position and it snaps in with a soft click and a brief glow, then stays put. A timer runs in the corner, but nobody here will hurry you.
How to play Fireside Jigsaw
- Pick one of the eight pictures from the thumbnails on the start screen.
- Choose 12, 24, 48 or 96 pieces depending on how much time you have tonight.
- Drag pieces onto the board; when one is close to its proper place it clicks in and locks.
- Press Edges first to bring the border pieces to the top, and hold Peek to see a faint version of the picture.
- If the loose pieces feel jumbled, press Shuffle to scatter them again, then place the last piece to finish.
Fireside Jigsaw controls
Getting better at Fireside Jigsaw
- Build the frame first with Edges first; every other piece then has a clear border to aim for.
- Sort by colour zones: the turquoise of the lake, the red of the cabins, the amber of the fire.
- Hold Peek for a second, remember one region, then let go and hunt for those pieces only.
- Use the shape of the tabs as well as colour; a piece with two tabs on one side only fits so many places.
- Try a picture you know well at 96 pieces; familiarity turns a daunting count into a cosy hour.
Pieces cut the way a box puzzle is
Square tiles would have been easier to build, but they would not have felt like a jigsaw on the coffee table. Each piece here is cut with curved tabs and blanks and drawn on its own little canvas, with the picture clipped inside and a soft edge around it.
The shapes are part of the play. A piece with a tab pointing up and two blanks on the sides tells you something, just as it would at home, and seasoned puzzlers end up sorting by shape as much as by colour. Newcomers can simply try pieces where they look right. A piece in the wrong place will not snap, so there is no penalty for experimenting.
Thirty-two puzzles and a tally of finished ones
Eight pictures in four sizes gives thirty-two different puzzles. Your best time for each picture and size is saved in the browser, so if you enjoy a gentle race, beating your own time on a 24-piece favourite is a nice little challenge.
The number we like best, though, is the count of puzzles you have completed. It goes up by one for every finish at any size, so a quick 12-piece with a child on your knee counts exactly as much as a marathon 96 on a snowy Sunday. That felt right for a game built around the fireplace rather than the stopwatch. Some of us keep one big puzzle going for days, a few pieces at a time, and that is a perfectly good way to play too.
Questions about Fireside Jigsaw
Eight, and each can be cut into 12, 24, 48 or 96 pieces, so there are thirty-two puzzles in all.
While you hold it, a faint version of the finished picture appears on the board. Let go and it fades, leaving you with a better idea of where that patch of snow belongs.
Yes. Your best time for each picture and size and your total of completed puzzles are saved in your browser on that device.
